Inside Higher Ed Online Advertising FAQ

What is a banner ad “impression?”
A key advantage of online advertising is that you are charged only for the number of times your ad is seen by a reader, not how many copies of it are printed or mailed out. Each time your ad is displayed on one of our pages, one “impression” is counted off the total for your campaign.

• Campaigns are generally charged according to a “CPM,” which is a cost for each thousand impressions generated (cost per thousand).
• Ads with moving images (flash, animated gifs) only register one impression each time they are viewed, even if multiple panels are displayed.

Why don’t I see my ad every time I come to your site?
If you purchased a banner campaign of, say, 50,000 impressions to be run over four weeks, Inside Higher Ed’s ad serving system will show the ad 50,000 times, spread evenly over your campaign period, and then stop displaying it. Since Inside Higher Ed has about 2 million pageviews per month, you would have to buy a tremendous number of impressions to be seen constantly throughout the month.

Also, several ads are often parsed into one position. You might see your ad on Inside Higher Ed’s home page, and see a different ad there when you return later. This means that several advertisers have bought impressions on the home page, and our ad serving system is gradually delivering those campaigns within overlapping time periods.

What is a pageview?
Each time an editorial story or the home page of Inside Higher Ed is viewed by a reader, one “pageview” is recorded. Because each page carries several ads, the number of ad impressions and pageviews on the site will always differ in a given month.

What kind of confirmation do I get that my ad has been shown?
Our ad serving system (Doubleclick Dart) tracks the number of impressions generated for each ad, as well as the number of times people click on the ad (clicks cannot be tracked on flash ads). We are happy to supply you with these statistics, either monthly, or at the end of your run.

How many clicks will I get?
Click rates are affected by two key factors:

• Size of your target: If your product or service is targeted at the entire higher ed audience, you will generate a stronger response than if you are reaching out to a highly targeted subset of our readers.
• Your ad: Advertisers who are new to the internet often create a pure “image” ad, and then wonder why few people click on it. On the Web, readers are accustomed to being asked to “click here” to get information, a free booklet, or to sign up for something of value to them. If response is important to you, invite the reader to click on your ad. Tell them to “learn more” about the specific topic you cover on your Web site, or find out about your membership or upcoming event. And make sure the entire ad is clickable to increase participation.

Why do you ask for my banner ad in three different sizes?
We’ll rotate your ad on our site during its run, so it may appear in the left hand navigation bar, or on the right side. Having your ad at all three sizes gives us maximum flexibility to deliver your schedule as promised. The three sizes are 130 x 195, 190 x 260 pixels, and 160 x 600 pixels.

To download a detailed advertising specification sheet in PDF form, click here

What is Inside Higher Ed’s Daily E-mail and can I advertise on it?
Inside Higher Ed sends out a daily news update e-mail to its subscribers every weekday morning. Currently more than 70,000 subscribers have opted in to this free service. The daily e-mail has two text ad spots available to advertisers at a cost of $2,500-$3,000 per week. Each spot consists of 25 words of text plus a linking URL. There are also three banner ad spots (180 x 150 pixels) available at $3,500 per week. You need to call for availability as advertising sells quickly.

How do I get started?
Visit http://insidehighered.com/advertise for more information and download a PDF of our display advertising rate sheet. Then contact Laura McFarland, Vice President of Sales, at laura.mcfarland@insidehighered.com or 202-659-9208, ext. 102 to get started. Laura can provide you with a written proposal that includes the type of advertising you want to purchase, the run dates, and the costs associated with your campaign. Please note that dates are not confirmed until a signed advertising contract has been received.